'Celebrity Apprentice' Recap: Red Rooms and Sugar Mamas

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Last week, Sharon Osbourne and Maria Kanellis told Trump that they hated Chef Curtis Stone because he’s smug and uses an absurd amount of hair gel. Of course, the Donald's next move is to put them on a team together. Finally, there's a payoff to all of the inane boardroom questions about who everyone likes, doesn’t like, wants to marry, bury, fire or whatever.

From Trump’s majestic castle in the clouds, the six remaining celebrities find out that their next task is a design challenge. Each team is charged with refurbishing an apartment and turning it into a living space that would befit a visiting executive. Along with renovating and furnishing their apartments, the teams must bring a signature celebrity-style to one room and give it a wow-factor. Since Holly Robinson Peete has heard of the interior designer judging the task, she unwittingly winds up as Project Manager of Tenacity, while Sharon takes the job on Rock Solid.

Playing house suits both teams incredibly well. Since Bret Michaels is absent for a majority of the task, Holly is left alone with 'Apprentice' rival, Cyndi Lauper. Surprisingly, their usually tense working relationship improves significantly when they pretend to be characters on an ‘Odd Couple’ meets ‘The L Word’ sitcom. Acting like they are in love and decorating their first home together makes both women more open-minded and willing to compromise. It’s also a welcome change for viewers, who have seen the same bold vs blah fight for the past five weeks.

Sadly, Cyndolly spend less than 24 hours basking in domestic bliss before Cyndi screams at the crew and Holly forms a casual alliance with returning teammate, Bret Michaels. Despite his absence, the rocker impresses Tenacity’s goal-oriented project manager with his work ethic, Holly-leaning diplomacy, and expressed understanding of The Trouble with Cyndi . Perhaps anticipating that their Zen Balinesian Den is a hot, disjointed mess, Holly tells Bret to remember that in the boardroom.

On Rock Solid, sparks fly and an unexpected love affair begins. Sharon quickly decides on a design concept that does not include Maria’s signature truck-stop style, and opts to take Curtis on her glamorous shopping excursions. The cute new couple scopes out luxury items and in classic romantic comedy form begin to fall in love. By the time Sharon gets $140,000 worth of free stuff, Curtis is openly fantasizing about his life with Sugar Mama, Sharon Osbourne.

At the end of the task, Rock Solid’s apartment has a classy, polished look that is a million times more appealing than the Holly Hobbie art project apartment that Tenacity has designed. Judges Jonathan Adler and Lee Curtis are impressed by the sleek, luxurious feel that Rock Solid has created, and borderline repulsed by Tenacity’s New York Zen Sanctuary with Balinesian-style décor and sea foam green walls. When one of the only compliments they can muster involves the optimal placement of a Buddha statue it is not a good sign.

In the boardroom, Sharon pets Curtis, and pinches his face as she tells everyone that he will marry one of her daughters and cook her Christmas dinner forever and always. Still, when Trump announces their victory, Sharon can't resist the urge to plant a big kiss on her future son-in-law’s lips. The lovebirds take Maria and exit so that Trump can officially end Holly and Cyndi’s civil union.

There is a lot of arguing about who should be fired, with Cyndi and Holly both pointing the finger at each other, and Bret following through on his implicit agreement to back Holly. In all the yelling and talking and fighting, at some point Cyndi mentions that Holly had the idea to make the paint the celebrity room red. Since this room was the only one the judges liked, and Cyndi had been given all the credit for its bold, original style, this statement was viewed as a huge tactical error by Don Jr. and the Donald. The elder Trump has made it clear to his son and anyone who has ever seen this show, that you should always take more credit than you deserve, not less. There’s no reason to ever finish a sentence that minimizes your own awesomeness. When Trump asks Cyndi why she mentioned that minor detail about the red room, and her only answer is, “Because it’s true,” her fate is sealed. Honesty is a liability in the boardroom and therefore, Cyndi Lauper is fired!

Next week, it looks like three of the five remaining contestants are getting the boot. My guess is that it will come down to Sharon vs Bret in the finale. What does everyone else think?